Minutes ago, Sen. Norm Coleman told television viewers that Gov. Pawlenty assured him the 35W bridge across the Mississippi River was inspected three years ago and given "a clean bill of health."
The obituaries are full of people who were inspected more recently than that.
We don't know what caused the rush hour collapse of the 35W bridge. Nor do we know yet how many people perished. But it's clear the accident will have major repercussions for the Twin Cities.
The 35W bridge feeds major north/south access to downtown Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota campus. Losing the span across the river means significant commuter and commercial traffic will be disrupted for a long time.
This disaster is also likely to have an impact on the political climate in the state — specifically, Minnesotans' willingness to invest in their public infrastructure. The live-within-our-means/no-new-taxes mentality may have been delivered a major blow by this dramatic collapse. Minnesotans can say: I've driven over that bridge!
As a potential symbol of neglect, the bridge will resonate across the state at the very least.
It would be unfair to insinuate that Gov. Pawlenty, the Minnesota Taxpayers League or other anti-tax forces are in any way to blame for the disaster. But powerful symbols don't support fine distinctions. If they did, we wouldn't be in Iraq.
As I reported not long ago, Minnesota's proportion of "deficient" bridges ranked fifth best in the country. In 2006, MN/DOT put new resources into a formal Bridge Preventative Maintenance program to extend bridge life. According to the department, "Since 2002, MN/DOT has substantially increased its level of bridge spending for repair, improvements and replacement."
At the same time, Minnesota has undeniably been falling behind. Back in 1997, the Legislative Auditor reported that correcting structural deficiencies in state highway bridges would cost more than twice what MN/DOT had spent annually for bridge replacement, preservation, and safety improvements between 1991 and 1995. Add the other bridges that had been identified as having other types of problems and deficiencies, and the shortfall swells to 6.25 times.
And this backlog occurred when the state was comparatively flush. Since then, more than 50% of the state’s infrastructure maintenance has remained unfunded.
Infrastructure maintenance came to a halt when the legislature failed to pass a capital budget or to appropriate maintenance funds in fiscal year 2004. Further compounding the problem, balances in the Facility and Repair and Replacement Account, created in 1999 to set aside funds for asset preservation, were transferred to the general fund.
Meanwhile, the cost of road maintenance has increased faster than many other government expenses. With the gas tax unchanged since 1988, the largest source of new revenue for roads has come from property taxes and assessments. And a high proportion of the state's bridges, built in the early interstate period, are approaching the age when more maintenance is required.
But those issues have remained largely in the background and in the minds of highway engineers.
With the bridge in the river, we'll be treated to an extended object lesson on the value of our roads and bridges to commerce and livability.
And the wisdom of investing in our infrastucture at the right time, not according to some politically expedient timetable.
UPDATE: Bruce Benidt makes the same point, without all facty stuff.